The black hickory is a large, slow-growing hardwood tree found primarily on sandy well-drained hillsides from San Antonio eastward, often mixed with post oaks and live oaks. It has dark grey bark and produces large hickory nuts in the late summer/early fall that attract wildlife.

The wood of the black hickory is dense and strong (though not as strong as pignut or shagbark hickory) and it is sometimes used for tool handles, bow-making, and as cooking wood. Besides the pecan, the black hickory is the western-most growing hickory tree in Texas.